The Transfer
by an-alternate-world
Summary: Blaine had never really had any friends but when the new boy arrived at his school, he really wanted to get to know him.


**Title: **The Transfer  
><strong>Author: <strong>an-alternate-world  
><strong>Rating:<strong> K  
><strong>CharactersPairing: **Blaine Anderson/Sebastian Smythe  
><strong>Word Count:<strong> 8,371  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Blaine had never really had any friends but when the new boy arrived at his school, he really wanted to get to know him.  
><strong>WarningsSpoilers:** Make an appointment with your dentist for cavities.  
><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I am in no way associated with Glee, FOX, Ryan Murphy or anything else related to the FOX universe.

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><p><em>Zoe (basically blew up my ask box demanding kid!Seblaine and Yiota said: 'I am officially prompting you to write the fluffiest fic that ever existed about Seblaine. You can decide the exact story but it has to be really adorable and full of hearts and love...'.<em>  
><em>So I combined the two and this happened.<em>

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><p>After a long summer of putting up with Cooper babysitting him, Blaine was more than excited to return to school. He was no longer a kindergartener and he faced the new year with refreshed enthusiasm. This year, he'd make friends. This year, he'd stand up to the bigger kids who teased him for his clothes.<p>

Except that his first day back in September proved nothing had really changed. He'd spent his first day clinging close to Miss Kelly until Cooper had picked him up. He'd spent his first week trying to explain that bow ties were cool until he realised no one cared or wanted to be his friend, just like last year. No one wanted to step in when there were bigger kids because no one wanted to become the target. He spent his September sad and lonely, watching the leaves change colour and having no one to share it with.

A new kid transferred into his class at the beginning of October and Blaine became obsessed by him within, like, seconds. He was so tall and when he smiled, his eyes got all scrunchy and his cheeks had little dimples and Blaine just wanted to grab his face and squeeze it between his little fingers and demand to know why he was so cute. Miss Kelly must have seen the wide-eyed look on his face at the new boy and she knew how much he liked using his fingers to paint with during Art classes because she directed Sebastian to a seat a couple away from him even though there was a spare seat next to him because no one wanted to sit too close to Blaine the Weird and Blaine felt betrayed. It felt like the new boy was now miles and miles and miles away and it was all Miss Kelly's fault.

Even though he was sitting several seats away, he still got to see Sebastian at morning tea and lunch time. He got to watch the way his green eyes flashed with amusement and his mouth formed around words and his hands waved as he explained stories, but because he was new and he was from France and so tall and…really sure that everything he said was right, he was frequently surrounded by girls and boys who wanted to play tag or ask him about his last school or basically just be so close to him that Blaine never really had a chance when he wasn't cool and always left out. It didn't matter how many times his daddy told him to 'man up' and talk to his classmates in the playground, it wasn't easy being the shortest and quietest kid in the class.

Even the girls were taller than him!

It was hard to 'man up' when the meaner kids, the older third or fourth graders, would approach him and throw his lunch box on the ground and ask him why he didn't have any friends. Sometimes they'd try to pull his bow tie off his neck or they'd tip water on his hair to see how sticky it could get. Instead of responding, he'd start running towards a teacher and then the bullies would run away before he drew the attention he was after. He didn't even care if others in his class called him a dibber-dobber. He was sure that he was much too small to look after himself properly and he had no one else to stand up for him.

So instead, he shyly watched Sebastian from a distance as he played on the monkey bars. He was really, really jealous that Sebastian could jump to the fourth monkey bar and catch it between his long fingers because his arms and legs were so long that he could easily reach. He'd watch the way Sebastian's arms moved and carried his weight from one side to the other, the way his legs kicked out in the air to keep him balanced as he clambered across. Every time Sebastian managed to securely jump to the fourth monkey bar, some of the other kids in their class would clap and cheer and Blaine wished he could be noticed for something that was cool. Sometimes he wasn't even sure he was noticed in class, except to get teased as the smarty pants and being called Miss Kelly's 'teacher's pet' because he did his work the quickest and the neatest. It wasn't his fault that he didn't have any friends to talk to and ruin his concentration on tracing his letters or doing his numbers.

When the bell rang for the end of lunch, he heard the various groans of disappointment around him but mostly he was just glad to be able to return to the safety of the classroom. He'd seen Jimmy and Benji watching him from the other side of the play equipment and was sure they were waiting for an opportunity to tease him. It was probably only because Miss Kelly was on duty and not that far away that had kept them at a distance.

He trailed behind his teacher, clutching his Transformers lunch box that Cooper had bought him as a present when he'd started this year, and put it in his bag once they were in the classroom. Miss Kelly sighed as she began laying out coloured pencils and paper on their desks.

"I wish more students were like you, Blaine," she said with a gentle pat of his shoulder. "You're always such a good student."

He smiled and rubbed a hand across his cheeks as they waited for the other kids to come in from the playground. Jane and Aimee had their heads together and were whispering something top secret and it made Blaine look down at the paper in front of him when he realised he didn't have a friend to share secrets with. He wasn't even sure he had any secrets but it still would have been nice to share that he didn't like crusts on his sandwiches and he thought bow ties were the best thing ever with someone.

A body sat down next to him and he tried to force himself to relax the grip on his pencil because he didn't want anyone thinking he was too much of a freak or anything.

"Bonjour."

He startled, wide eyes turning towards Sebastian. He looked quickly at Miss Kelly who was too busy trying to get Zach into or out of his sweater – he wasn't actually sure – and then back to the other boy.

"That's not your seat," he said with a small frown.

"Non, but I have sat next to most people now and not you. It is only fair." Sebastian leaned closer and whispered into his ear, "Besides, you are prettier than anyone else."

Blaine could only stare as a flush bloomed across his cheeks and he felt like he was under a magic spell simply by the way Sebastian spoke. His accent wasn't too thick but he spoke in a way that was stilted and formal and Blaine thought it was the best way he'd ever heard someone speak.

Sebastian grinned at him, one of those smiles Blaine had seen across the playground where his whole face crinkled up, and he noticed two missing teeth as well as a whole lot of freckles across Sebastian's nose and neck. His tummy did a funny little jump.

"Um… Thank you," he said nervously and tried to pay attention to Miss Kelly beginning her explanation of drawing their own creature that they could take to the park with them. Beside him, Sebastian's fingers wrapped around his lead pencil when Miss Kelly was done explaining but Blaine stared at his paper for ages and ages, not sure what he should draw.

He watched Isaac across from him scribbling coloured blotches on the paper and he wondered if the creature was some sort of mutant Dalmatian. He watched Zoe doodling something that was so small he wasn't actually sure what it was. When he peeked next to him, Sebastian had drawn something with the body of a horse and wings like a fairy and human arms and legs and an elephant trunk and a giraffe's neck. It looked weird.

"Are you okay?" Sebastian asked quietly, reaching for a green pencil from the basket that Isaac had pulled closer towards him.

He nodded out of habit because he already knew no one really cared if he was okay or not. He knew he didn't have any friends so there was no one to care and he knew Cooper only asked because he was uncomfortable if Blaine wasn't being 100% normal.

"Blaine?" Miss Kelly's hand touched his shoulder again and he looked up at her. She looked so sad, maybe even disappointed, and it made him unhappy. "Is Sebastian distracting you?"

He shook his head, looking from Sebastian to his teacher. Sebastian looked sort of…angry maybe that their teacher had expected the boy to be distracting him. Sebastian had done nothing but sit beside him and say something nice. "No, Miss. I just don't know what to draw…"

"Did you leave your creative hat in the playground?" Miss Kelly said, making Blaine feel confused as he looked down at his blank paper.

"But I didn't have a hat…" he mumbled to himself, his forehead wrinkling into a frown.

Miss Kelly patted his shoulder and moved on, saying the work of other students was really good even if Blaine knew he could usually do much better. He just lacked any special ideas this afternoon for drawing.

"You do not seem okay," Sebastian whispered, his blue pencil poised above a giraffe splotch. Blaine became very aware of the sparkly green eyes that stared at him. They were really pretty. And very close.

He tried to scrunch his face into something annoyed because he wasn't sure why Sebastian would care if he was okay or not, and turned back to his paper. He was just stuck for ideas. That was all it was.

* * *

><p>"Why do you sit on your own so much?"<p>

Blaine looked up from scratching at the dirt with a small stick. Sebastian stood above him, hands on his hips and his freckled face flushed from playing on the swings with Aimee. He considered lying to the other boy but telling lies was bad and he didn't want to be bad. He already hadn't traced his letters as neatly this week when Sebastian had begun sitting next to him during classes. Miss Kelly had patiently explained to Cooper two afternoons ago that she was "concerned" and Cooper had nodded and run his fingers along the back of his neck when Blaine had begun squirming at the Big People Words he didn't understand.

"No one likes me," he said quietly, shrugging and scribbling out the picture of a tree.

Sebastian flopped onto the ground, folding his long legs underneath him. He looked so casual and comfortable and Blaine wished he could be so carefree. "Why? You do not smell funny."

Blaine poked at the dirt with his stick, gradually creating a small hole. Maybe he could dig to China and find friends there. "I dunno. I don't think they like my clothes."

Sebastian tilted his head to the side and propped his chin in his hands. "It is a bit weird but I do not see why that means they would not like you. I like you."

Blaine screwed up his face in embarrassment and let the stick go. How could Sebastian like him? They hadn't talked much. "You don't know me."

"I know you like to wear bow ties which are très classique." Sebastian reached for the stick and scratched out a drawing of his own in the dirt that Blaine didn't understand when it was upside down. "I know you are très intelligent and Miss Kelly is very…how you say, she likes you?"

Blaine could feel something buzzing in his chest with the way Sebastian spoke, interspersing French with his English. He knew that the other boy was capable enough of speaking in English but that sometimes he didn't know the right translated word. He had picked up through listening to conversations that Sebastian's mother was French and he spent most of his time with her, leaving his English still developing. Blaine could only imagine asking Sebastian to come over to his house and enjoying sitting on the grass together and watching the clouds and asking Sebastian to tell him everything about France in French. It felt like a very peaceful daydream.

"Would you like to play with me?" Sebastian asked, tapping at Blaine's knee with the stick and drawing his attention away from his imagination that would never come true.

Blaine bit at his bottom lip and looked down at his dirty hands. He would have loved to play with Sebastian but he didn't want the other boy to think he was so alone that he'd jump at the first offer of friendship. He was scared that maybe Sebastian was going to try to tease him too.

He looked at Sebastian through his eyelashes. "You don't have to be my friend just because no one else will be, Sebastian."

Sebastian looked at him strangely, like the way Cooper looked at him sometimes when he said that girls had cooties but he dreamed about holding a boy's hand. "I would have thought that was the reason to be your friend, précisément?" Sebastian's mouth turned outwards in an appealingly sad pout. "Or is it me you do not like?"

Blaine's little fingers pressed into the soft dirt. He liked Sebastian, a lot, but he knew he didn't like the other kids that Sebastian spoke with so often. Maybe this was just a big game where they were going to try to make him cry. "Maybe we can play tomorrow."

Sebastian looked disappointed but he nodded and patted Blaine's knee as he stood up. "Tomorrow, mon ami."

Blaine tried not to smile too brightly as Sebastian sprinted over to play with Isaac on the slide. He could tell Jimmy and Benji were watching him and he didn't want them to have more reasons to be mean to him, or for Sebastian to be teased. He was too special for that.

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><p>He spent most of the walk home with Cooper trying not to skip down the street. His brother kept their hands held together after he was so distracted he nearly ran onto the road without looking. He couldn't stop thinking about getting to play with Sebastian the next day. He wondered if he could go on the monkey bars and show Sebastian that he wasn't so short that he could barely reach. He wondered if the other kids wouldn't think him so weird if he had a friend – the coolest sort of friend who was also the new kid. He wondered if it was true that French people kissed other people on the cheek all the time. He wondered if that meant it wouldn't be weird if he kissed Sebastian's cheek like he imagined doing all the time when he was tracing his letters, which might be why they hadn't been so good the past week.<p>

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><p>Miss Kelly had to keep him in for the first five minutes of lunch as punishment after he'd been so excited about getting to play with Sebastian that he'd hadn't been able to sit still and therefore hadn't finished his numbers. When she finally let him go with a frown on her face that was similar to his mom's when he didn't keep his room clean, he scurried out of the room and ran for the playground.<p>

Sebastian was surrounded by the other kids from their class like usual as they ate lunch and he slowed, standing by one of the walls to shield him from the eyes of the other kids. He didn't dare approach Sebastian with all the others around him in case they both ended up getting teased. He watched Jamie say something that made Sebastian and the girls laugh. He watched the way that Sebastian's whole face seemed to crack with happiness and he could imagine that face laughing at him, teasing him for ever thinking that Sebastian was interested in him. He felt so alone, so left out, so ignored. His eyes filled with tears and he turned and ran away to sit by himself under his favourite tree again. He didn't even realise that his rush to leave the classroom meant he'd left his lunchbox behind until he sat down. It didn't matter. He wasn't hungry. His tummy was too busy twisting like a snake.

He poked at the dirt with his fingers and tried to swallow away his tears. His father said boys weren't meant to cry and Blaine was pretty sure that if Jimmy and Benji saw him close to tears, they'd tease him until he really was crying. The worst part was that he didn't even know why he was so upset but it felt like he was upset with himself. He felt like he only had himself to blame for not doing his numbers properly or not being able to make friends properly or not having the courage to approach Sebastian properly. He didn't even know if any of his reasons made sense as he flicked dirt around him in an attempt to distract him from the sadness he felt. His hands were getting grubby and soil stains had bloomed on his green jeans.

The bell rang for the second half of lunch which meant that the other kids could start playing now. He bit his lower lip hard enough to hurt because he could feel it wobbling because of the sadness in his chest. He thought he was going to get to play today, he thought he was going to have a friend today, but instead Miss Kelly was getting more and more unhappy with him because he wasn't doing well anymore and he hadn't eaten lunch and Sebastian had forgotten all about him because Sebastian was so popular and Blaine was definitely not and he started thinking that maybe he should ask Miss Kelly to sit him apart from Sebastian because maybe he wasn't focusing properly with the other boy so close and he didn't want to-

"Mon ami?"

Sebastian's shadow fell across his legs and he didn't want to look up in case the other boy saw that his eyes were red. He ended up having his shoe get nudged by Sebastian's foot but still he avoided looking. With a huff that was so over-the-top it reminded him of Cooper, Sebastian sat down beside him.

"Why are you sitting on your own again?" Sebastian asked, his fingers touching the back of Blaine's hand. He was so pale that it contrasted with the black dirt that covered Blaine's skin.

"I didn't want to… You were busy," Blaine said, shaking off Sebastian's hand because he didn't want to get his pretty, freckled skin dirty. Sebastian was clean and nice and Blaine was a gross weirdo that no one liked.

"I said I would play with you today," Sebastian said with a frown, pulling his hand away and settling it in his lap. Blaine really wanted to have it touch him again but he didn't want to seem desperate. Sebastian had all his other friends to hang out with. "Do you not want to play with me, Blaine?"

"I'm just-"

"Hanging out with him is so gross."

"Yeah, didn't you know he's a freak? Do you wanna catch the freak disease, newbie?"

"You'll be a loner reject like him if you stay here much longer."

"You better run, newbie. Being a freak is totally con-tay-jus."

Blaine could feel his hands shaking as his eyes filled with tears again. Jimmy and Benji had apparently decided today was when they were going to tease him and now Sebastian had to hear it too. It didn't matter what they said about him but he knew Sebastian shouldn't hear it. Sebastian was so nice and popular and fancy with his French accent that he'd never be a freak or a loner reject like Blaine with his dumb bow ties and no friends.

"Blaine?" Sebastian touched his knee, shaking it gently as if he wasn't capable of hearing the words that made him so sad. "You do not respond?"

He shrugged and stared at the ground, continuing to poke holes in the dirt to distract himself. He was pretty sure if he spoke, Jimmy and Benji would hear that he was upset and then they'd call him a crybaby. He didn't think Sebastian would still want to play with him if he knew that Blaine got teased so much. He didn't think Sebastian would still want to play with him if he knew that Blaine had gone home and cried in his room so much last year.

"What a freak," Benji muttered, kicking his shoe before he turned to walk away.

"Hey!" Sebastian scrambled to his feet and pushed Benji in the back. Blaine peeked up nervously, watching with wide eyes as Jimmy and Benji raised themselves to be taller than Sebastian. He didn't know exactly how much difference there was but it was enough to make Sebastian look small, which was probably why Blaine felt tiny next to them because he knew Sebastian was much bigger than him.

"I think he's caught a case of the freak, Ben."

"Told you it was con-tay-jus."

"Shut up!" Sebastian yelled, shoving at their chests and waving his hands in their faces. "Faire taire! Blaine is not a freak!"

Benji and Jimmy looked from Sebastian to Blaine. Benji's eyes lit up when he saw that Blaine was watching them. Jimmy was opening his mouth to say something when Mister Michaels walked over. He had his arms folded across his chest and looked really angry. Blaine bit his lip and quickly lowered his head. He hadn't done anything wrong. He wouldn't get into trouble, right?

"Is there a problem, boys?"

"No, Sir," Benji and Jimmy said politely, flashing wide, innocent smiles at the teacher. It was the same as always. Most teachers didn't believe Blaine last year when he tried to say that Benji and Jimmy had been mean to him. Benji and Jimmy were just too good at being nice when it was needed.

"You are liars," Sebastian said, pointing his finger at both of them. Blaine looked up in surprise. "They were calling Blaine mean names, Mister."

"Were not!' Benji said before Jimmy elbowed him in the side to shut up.

"Blaine?" Mister Michaels crouched in front of him, drawing his eyes away from Sebastian and causing his fingers to still as they played with the dirt. Mister Michaels didn't look as angry anymore. He looked like Cooper when he was trying to find out why Blaine was sad. Cooper said he would be pay-shunt until he got his answers. "Is this true?"

"You know we didn't mean it," Benji whined, but there was a look on his face behind Mister Michael's back that made him look mean. Jimmy was glaring at him and making horrible motions with his fingers across his throat.

Blaine looked at him and then Jimmy, and then Sebastian. He didn't know what to say. If he said it wasn't true, then maybe Sebastian would get into trouble for lying and pushing the other boys even though he hadn't lied. And then Blaine would be lying too, which would make him bad. But if he said it was true, then Benji and Jimmy might find new ways to be mean to him when he was on his own and that scared him more than anything.

"Blaine," Sebastian said quietly but firmly. Blaine looked back at Sebastian who looked so sad but hopeful, his green eyes older than his years. "They should get into trouble."

He blinked at his classmate before looking at Mister Michaels. His blue eyes were bright like Cooper's and they matched his blue tie. He liked the tie. He wondered if Mister Michael's would wear a bow tie sometime. "It… It's true," he whispered, his toes curling in his shoes when Jimmy said something mean under his breath and he knew he'd be in big trouble if he was ever alone again. "They… They called me a freak and a…a loner reject, Sir."

"That's not very nice." Mister Michaels touched his shin gently, rubbing it briefly before pulling his hand back. "Thank you for telling me, Blaine. I'll take care of these boys now."

Jimmy and Benji shot him horrible looks as the teacher marched them away. Sebastian watched them go with a pleased look on his face, his arms folded across his chest.

"You didn't have to do that," he said, brushing his fingers on his pants when the bell went for the end of lunch. Miss Kelly would probably keep telling him to stand by the sink for the next five minutes and scrub his hands until they weren't black anymore.

"Of course I must," Sebastian said with a shrug as Blaine got to his feet, his face as bright as the sunshine. "You are my friend, Blaine."

He blinked in surprise as he stared at Sebastian with a funny feeling growing in his tummy. It made him feel like he couldn't breathe right. "Really?"

"Why not?" Sebastian tangled their fingers together as if the dirt didn't even exist and began leading him across the playground towards their classroom. "Is better to be freaks together than a freak alone, non?"

Blaine blushed and followed Sebastian. He wasn't sure how to respond. He was too distracted at holding another boy's hand. He was too distracted that Sebastian still wanted to be his friend.

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><p>Blaine spent a large portion of his Saturday drawing pictures but he was never satisfied with the drawings of Sebastian's face. The freckles looked like the zits Cooper tried to pretend he didn't have and the smile made him look like a scary killer rather than the pretty happiness that sparkled on Sebastian's face when he grinned. The floor around the coffee table was littered with balled up pieces of paper, the Saturday cartoons mostly ignored as Cooper sat on the couch with his homework.<p>

"Coop?" He looked up from his latest drawing to ensure his brother was actually paying attention to him.

"Yeah, Squirt?" Cooper chewed at the end of his pen as he looked up, his fingers poised above the calculator balancing on his knee. It didn't matter how many times mom told Cooper to do his homework at the kitchen table or his desk, he still preferred doing it on the couch. Blaine didn't mind, though. It kept his brother within arm's reach.

"How do you know if you like someone?" he asked, looking around at the balls of paper on the floor. "Like, is it a problem if he makes your tummy feel all squirmy when he smiles and you don't want the day to end because then you gotta leave him?"

Cooper was silent for a long while and when Blaine looked up at him, found another of those strange looks on his brother's face like he had just shared he was a secret superhero at night time who saved squealing girls from being tied to train tracks.

"I think that's the very definition of liking someone, Bee," Cooper said, leaning forward to ruffle his fingers through Blaine's hair. He didn't gel it on the weekend if he was just staying at home and no one else would see his horrible curls. "He must be a pretty special guy if you like him."

Blaine smiled shyly and looked down at another drawing of Sebastian's eyes that still wasn't right. "He is," he whispered, picking up the pink pencil to make Sebastian's mouth better.

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><p>He still got distracted having Sebastian sit next to him in class but he learned how to tell his new friend to be quiet so he could focus on his letters and numbers properly and keep Miss Kelly happy. At break times, Sebastian would confidently take his hand and they would eat together and then run around and Blaine was pretty sure that every other kid was jealous of him because Sebastian was his special friend now, even if that meant they were freaks together.<p>

Sometimes, they even shared sandwiches which was like, the very definition of bestest friends as far as Blaine was concerned.

Blaine didn't notice if Jimmy and Benji were still staring at him from across the playground. He was always so distracted by Sebastian telling him stories about France and the places he would go with his mama and papa. He'd never heard anyone call their parents anything other than mom and dad, but he thought it was cute the way Sebastian called them mama and papa. When he told Sebastian it was cute, the boy had wrinkled his nose and tried to tickle him into taking it back. He'd laughed and begged for it to stop while Sebastian complained that he was too old to be called 'cute'.

He wondered if it was weird that he tried to arrive earlier at school now to make sure he had as much time with Sebastian as possible. Cooper didn't really like getting up in the mornings so he was always jumping onto his brother's bed to wake him up and then pleading for his brother to drink his coffee and eat his cereal faster. He didn't like it when Cooper picked him up from after school care either, because it was never late enough and he had to leave Sebastian and it wasn't fair.

"Have you thought about inviting him over?" Cooper asked as they walked home on Friday. Two days of no Sebastian stretched before Blaine and he wanted to cry because he didn't know where Sebastian lived and what if he decided over the weekend that he didn't want to be friends anymore? "I'm sure mom would allow you to have a sleepover if you wanted."

"You think so?" Blaine swung his little hand in Cooper's as they walked down the street, trying not to skip too much because Cooper's other arm was loaded up with lots of books that looked like they could easily topple over. The school for big kids sure liked giving him lots of work. "I feel like I'm gonna die if I don't see him every day, Cooper."

Cooper laughed and carefully spun him in a circle when they got to a street corner. "And here I thought I was enough for you on the weekends."

"You made me late to see Sebastian this morning," Blaine pouted. Losing fifteen minutes with his special friend had made him grumpy for the rest of the day. Sebastian had looked so sad sitting on his own until Blaine had run up to him and taken his hand and then Sebastian looked much happier.

Cooper just laughed again, his big fingers squeezing at Blaine's little ones. "You'd better be careful, Bee. Other kids might say you're dating soon and then they'll throw you a wedding and toss petals at you in the playground."

Blaine had seen some of the second and third graders do that, but it was always a boy and a girl and he usually saw them fighting a few days later and then they never talked again. He flushed at the thought of kissing Sebastian in front of everyone while people threw petals at them. "He's just my friend, silly."

"I thought you liked him?" Cooper let go of Blaine's hand to pull his keys from his pockets with a jangle as they approached the front door, the books in his arms teetering dangerously to one side.

"I do, but that doesn't mean I wanna marry him!" Blaine protested, taking the letters from the mailbox and trailing after Cooper. "Sebastian's parents don't live together at the moment. I wouldn't wanna live if we got married and then he didn't wanna see me again!"

Cooper unlocked the door and rubbed the back of his neck comfortingly when he got close enough. He preferred his brother touching the back of his neck to ruffling his hair. "Fair enough, Squirt. I won't order too many petals for your sleepover then."

Blaine frowned as he pulled off his shoes and took off his coat to hang on his little peg. "Why would we need petals at a sleepover?"

Cooper grinned and headed for the kitchen to put his books down and get the milk and cookies they always ate together after school on Fridays. "You'll understand someday!"

* * *

><p>Sebastian poked him in his side on Thursday when he'd been nibbling at his animal crackers for most of the first half of lunch. "What is wrong?"<p>

Blaine lowered his half-eaten cracker. Cooper had asked mom on Tuesday if Blaine could have a sleepover because Blaine was too shy to ask himself. His mom had been quick to agree and then both her and Cooper had begun to tell Blaine what he should do when he saw Sebastian the next day.

So far, it had been two days and he hadn't been able to breathe a word of it. What if Sebastian said no? Worse, what if Sebastian said yes? Blaine didn't want to make a fool of himself. He didn't know whether they were friends or best friends. True, Sebastian hadn't talked much to the other kids since he'd yelled at Jimmy and Benji but Blaine didn't want to get his hopes up that he meant as much to Sebastian as Sebastian meant to him.

"Blaine?"

He liked the way Sebastian said his name, but it was also impossible not to look at the other boy after he'd said it. His green eyes were wide with concern, the tan in his face fading as the sun stayed hidden by late autumn clouds. The freckles stood out more and Blaine wondered what they'd feel like under his fingertips.

"It… I'm just… I'm scared," he admitted, biting his lower lip as he looked at his animal crackers. He was scared and also really sad because he was pretty sure Sebastian would never say yes to coming over to his house and maybe Sebastian wouldn't want to talk to him tomorrow. It was one thing to be loner freaks together but going to the original freak's house was too much.

"Scared?" Sebastian looped his arm around Blaine's, the insides of their elbows brushing, and clasped their little hands together. Sebastian was so much more comfortable with touching and linking their fingers. It nearly always made Blaine feel better. "Why are you scared, mon ami?"

"I want… I mean… My mom wanted to know if…if maybe you'd like to come over on the weekend for a…a sleepover but if you don't want to then-"

"A sleepover?" Sebastian's forehead wrinkled and Blaine was pretty sure it was the same look Blaine got when his dinner tasted funny. He was pretty sure Sebastian was going to say no and then he'd be- "Why would I not want to?"

Blaine's mouth closed as he stared at Sebastian's expression, feeling guilty as he tried to understand what the look was. Was the other boy hurt by Blaine's mistake? "I didn't know how much we were, like…friends, I guess…"

Sebastian lowered his head to rest on Blaine's shoulder and squeezed his hand tightly. "Tu es mon meilleur ami, Blaine. You are my best friend. I would very much like to sleep at your place this weekend if my mama says yes."

Blaine's tummy did another of those flippy things as he lowered his cheek to rest on Sebastian's hair. He didn't care if anyone else was watching them. He was too busy trying to keep his excited butterflies contained. He was Sebastian's best friend? Even when Sebastian had travelled all over the world?

Wow.

* * *

><p>Sebastian ran into his arms the next morning and spun him around. He clung to his friend as his feet left the ground, squealing and complaining because he knew Sebastian was strong but he didn't want to end up falling on his butt. He was pretty sure the other kids would tease them for that.<p>

"Mama said yes," Sebastian said, kissing both of his cheeks in a greeting after Blaine's feet were planted firmly back on the ground.

He still felt like he was flying though. It was probably because of the kisses he'd spent so much time thinking about. Sebastian's lips were warm and soft and on him for nowhere near long enough. He could feel his cheeks turn pink as he realised Sebastian would be staying at his place and flung himself into another hug that made the other boy laugh against him and hug him back.

* * *

><p>He spent most of Saturday morning cleaning up his room to ensure it was totally spotless and trying to hide all the pictures he'd drawn of Sebastian. He wasn't entirely sure that the other boy would recognise the squiggly images but he couldn't take the chance. It would be so embarrassing if Sebastian asked whether certain pictures were his eyes or not.<p>

Cooper was in the living room doing his homework like always, cartoons in the background. Blaine couldn't hope to focus on them. He struggled to sit still as he watched the clock approach one. They'd have lunch together and then they'd play or watch a movie or bake something and they'd have dinner and then Sebastian was sleeping in his bed and-

"Squirt." Cooper's hand pressed against the back of his neck, briefly steadying his brimming excitement. "You still have nearly twenty minutes. Take a deep breath or you'll scare him when he shows up."

Blaine took a deep breath but it didn't do much. He was still squirming and the cartoons weren't interesting enough to hold his attention and he had to keep getting up to ensure all his bow ties had been neatly stored and all his toys had been packed up and his bed was neatly made and then the doorbell was ringing and Blaine nearly tripped down the stairs as he ran to open it.

Sebastian stood on the doorstep, a backpack slung over his shoulders. His cheeks looked a little red and made his freckles stand out. He wore a dark blue sweater and jeans and the clothes looked nicer than the ones he usually wore to school. Blaine wanted to hug him but thought he shouldn't.

"Bonjour, Blaine," Sebastian greeted with a grin, shrugging off his mother's hand with a roll of his shoulder.

"Hi." Blaine stared at Sebastian, a shy smile passing his lips, before he looked up at Sebastian's mother. She was tall and pretty, with long brunette hair and sparkly brown eyes that made her sky-blue dress look even nicer against her pale skin. Some of her features looked very similar to Sebastian's, like her pointy nose and her cheekbones. "Hello, Mrs Smythe."

"Bonjour, Blaine," Sebastian's mom said with a polite smile. Her accent was thicker than Sebastian's but he could still understand it after talking to Sebastian so much. "Sebastian speaks of you often."

"Mama," Sebastian squeaked, his cheeks flushing darker. Blaine was pretty sure his own were red now too. Sebastian talked about him lots? Did that mean Sebastian really liked him too?

"Hey, hi, hello!" Cooper bounced in behind Blaine, a pen tucked behind his ear and a wicked grin on his face. His stomach dropped. "You must be Sebastian. Blaine speaks of you all the time too."

"Coop!" Blaine whined, shoving at his brother's stomach and stamping on his foot. "You suck."

Cooper laughed and shook Mrs Smythe's hand as they introduced each other. Blaine was too embarrassed to look at Sebastian with his red face and instead focused on the curl of his toes in his socks.

"Be good, mon petit garçon," Mrs Smythe said with a kiss to Sebastian's hair and a soft hand to his shoulder blades. "I will see you tomorrow."

Sebastian fidgeted with the strap of his bag as he and Blaine watched her walk to her car and drive away. Cooper was still standing nearby with his dumb grin on his face. Blaine knew they had to escape. Quickly.

"I'll show you my room," Blaine said, grabbing at Sebastian's hand and running with him up the stairs.

"Don't get into trouble!" Cooper called after them. Blaine didn't understand what trouble they could get into just because he was showing Sebastian his room.

Sebastian put his bag down by Blaine's bookcase and wandered around, looking at the array of books and toy robots and model cars he'd been given for birthdays and Christmases. "Your room is nice," Sebastian said with a smile.

Blaine smiled shyly back. "Do you wanna play?"

Sebastian nodded and they linked hands again as they went downstairs. Blaine was fully prepared to kick Cooper out of the living room so they could make the most epic pillow fort ever.

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><p>It was pretty clear that Cooper liked Sebastian and so did Blaine's mom. They asked him all sorts of questions which Sebastian answered without looking particularly frustrated. It made Blaine wonder if the questions were similar to the ones he'd been asked when he first changed schools.<p>

The thoughts of Blaine's father were harder to know, but Blaine wasn't sure his father liked anything except cars and money and sometimes his favourite amber drink in the short glasses that made him cough a little after he swallowed them.

As far as Blaine was concerned, 8pm was much too early to go to bed when you were having your very first sleepover but his mom was pretty insistent so he'd sighed and trudged upstairs with Sebastian behind him. Cooper had reminded him to have a shower and wash his hair and the only reason he hadn't gone back to kick his brother in the shin was because Sebastian had such a firm grip on his hand and a pretty smile on his lips.

He'd been incredibly nervous after having his shower and making sure his hair was mostly dry. He was defensive of his curls after some of the children at his preschool had teased him and said it was like he had worms on the top of his head. He'd quickly gained the nickname of Worm and hadn't been sad when preschool had given way to kindergarten and he hadn't seen the same kids. It was also why he'd started flattening his hair with sticky gel like Cooper had taught him. Sebastian had never seen his hair properly. What if he hated the curls and started teasing him that they looked wormy too?

Sebastian was sitting on the edge of his bed when Blaine entered his room. Even though Sebastian was tall, his legs didn't touch the ground so his feet kicked back and forward. He looked up when Blaine opened the door, his eyebrows creasing together.

"You have curly hair?" Sebastian asked, waving his hand at Blaine in a gesture to come closer.

Blaine bit his lip as he approached, struggling with straightening the curls or smoothing them down. "I… Yeah…"

"C'est magnifique," Sebastian whispered, sliding off the bed to walk towards him. His little fingers ran through Blaine's hair as if he'd never seen curly hair before. "I like your hair like this."

"You do?" Blaine looked up, feeling shy again with Sebastian so close. He only then realised Sebastian had changed into a TMNT t-shirt and pants with pictures of Power Rangers on them. "I like your pyjamas."

Sebastian smiled and kissed his cheeks as he pulled away and jumped onto the bed. "It is why I wanted to be your friend. I liked your lunchbox."

Blaine giggled, turning off the light and crawling onto the bed. A couple of times he hit an arm or a leg of Sebastian's in the dark and they both laughed as Blaine eventually found his way underneath the sheets and blanket. They lay in silence for a minute before Blaine was pretty sure Sebastian rolled onto his side to stare at him in the darkness.

"Thank you for inviting me to sleep with you," Sebastian said, his voice sounding less confident that it usually did. Blaine reached out blindly until he found his friend's shoulder and followed it down until he could tangle his fingers with Sebastian's.

"So you had fun?" He'd been scared that maybe Cooper insisting they put the pieces of the pillow fort back so he could do his homework had made Sebastian unhappy.

"Much fun, yes." Sebastian squeezed his hand and Blaine felt warm with reassurance.

He could hear Sebastian's soft breathing and wondered if maybe he could feel the tiny breaths that tickled his face or they were just his imagination. He'd shared a bed with Cooper before when he'd had a nightmare but it wasn't like this. This meant a level of trust and safety he'd never had when so many kids at school preferred to ignore him. His brother was his brother and would always be his brother, but Sebastian was his first special friend.

"Blaine?" Sebastian whispered uncertainly, as if checking if he was still awake.

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever… Has anyone at school ever asked you to kiss them?"

Blaine's eyes blinked open in surprise but he needn't have bothered. Darkness encased his room like light had never existed within it. "No. No one really talked to me until you. Why? Have they asked you?" He felt a little sick at the thought that other people liked Sebastian that much, although he wasn't sure why.

"Oui, sometimes." Sebastian sighed and Blaine felt a thumb brush over his hand. "Usually it is the girls. I do not wish to kiss the girls."

Blaine wrinkled his nose at the thought of it. "The girls are icky," he said sharply, louder than he'd intended. He hoped no one downstairs had heard him. It made Sebastian laugh though, soft and breathy in the dark.

"Icky?"

"Gross," Blaine explained, making Sebastian laugh again.

"La grosse in French means fat," Sebastian said, his voice clearly amused, and Blaine flushed. That wasn't what he meant!

"Well just… You know. Kissing girls. Yuck."

"Oui. I do not wish to kiss the girls," Sebastian repeated, though he was still sounding happy.

Blaine stared into the darkness where he imagined Sebastian's face was. He could faintly see the outline of the other boy if he looked carefully enough. "Do you think about kissing people a lot?"

"Sometimes, but it is not normal to kiss boys here as much as France," Sebastian said quietly, maybe sounding sadder. "You are the only one who lets me kiss his cheeks in greeting. In France, this is normal for me."

Blaine felt his heart do something funny in his chest. "You… You think about kissing boys?"

"Oui," Sebastian confided and Blaine thought that maybe a friend had just shared a super-secret with him. Maybe that meant they really were friends. "Am I…how you say, a freak?"

"I don't think so," Blaine said, squeezing his hand and wriggling closer to Sebastian to try to make him feel better. He could definitely feel Sebastian's breath on his cheek now. "Sometimes I think about it too."

"You do?" Sebastian sounded surprised. Blaine knew his face was red with how warm it was.

"Yeah, just… I was at preschool once and saw Kevin and Jasmine kiss and it just made me think about it lots," he said with a shrug.

Sebastian was quiet for a long time after that and Blaine could feel himself getting sleepier because he felt so happy to have Sebastian there and so warm with two bodies underneath the blankets. He was pretty sure he was going to ask his mom if Sebastian could sleepover more often because he really, really liked having him here and-

Sebastian's nose bumped against his cheek, his lips pressing against the corner of Blaine's mouth. He woke back up quickly, his breathing choking in his lungs. Butterflies swarmed in his stomach and up his chest and he thought if he opened his mouth, they might just fly free and invade the air around them.

"Je suis désolé, I should not have-"

Blaine tilted his head and searched in the darkness for Sebastian's mouth. He could feel the other boy's surprise when their lips met and it made the back of Blaine's neck feel hot and his tummy do somersaults like they did in gym class and he had no idea what to do but that didn't seem to matter to Sebastian. Their lips stayed closed but softly and repeatedly pressed together until Blaine giggled and turned his head away and Sebastian kissed his cheek when he leaned up again.

"I liked that very much," Sebastian whispered as they cuddled closer in the bed. Blaine's whole body felt like it was on fire with the way Sebastian's arm was wrapped around his waist.

"Me too," he admitted, pressing his face into Sebastian's neck and breathing deeply. He definitely wanted more sleepovers if they got to do that in the dark.

"We should sleep in case your brother goes through with his promise to pour ice on our beds in the morning," Sebastian murmured, his lips brushing against Blaine's hair. He smiled and snuggled into Sebastian, liking the way their bodies fit together.

"Coop doesn't like mornings," Blaine mumbled around a yawn.

"Me either."

Blaine giggled again and leaned up to kiss Sebastian's lips. They were so soft and warm, so squishy and full. It was odd to kiss him but he liked it. He couldn't imagine kissing a girl like that.

"Goodnight, Sebastian," he said, kissing his friend on the mouth again and then pressing into his body.

"Goodnight, mon ami," Sebastian replied, his fingers winding into the fabric of Blaine's shirt. "Dormez bien."

Blaine hummed with tiredness at whatever Sebastian had said and allowed the fuzzy warmth that surrounded him to carry him off to pleasant dreams of kissing Sebastian for the rest of his life.

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><p><strong>~FIN~<strong>

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><p>* Any mistakes with the French are entirely my own as I use Google Translate!<p> 


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